A Famed Model’s Major Career Change

“I grew up in Holland and that’s where the seed was planted—no pun intended,” says floral designer Frederique Van Der Wal. “Holland is a country of flowers; growing up, I was always surrounded by them.” But when Van Der Wal moved to New York at age 18, she felt a void. “When you leave your country, you start realizing the things you suddenly took for granted. One of those things was definitely flowers,” she says. “It had always been a part of my life to have living things around me and in a city like New York, it’s slim pickings.”